Southern Illinois University
10-6
Chicago State
0-17
Baseball Shuts Out Chicago State, 4-0; Sweeps Cougars
03/13/2005 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 13, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Four pitchers, including Tyler Norrick, Dylan Ward, Adam Snyder and Shane Garner combined on a one-hit shutout to lead Southern Illinois (10-6) to a 4-0 win over Chicago State (0-17) earlier today at a frigid Abe Martin Field.
With the win, SIU registered its second three-game sweep of a non-conference opponent this season.
Both teams played in a temperature of no higher than 37 degrees, but the near-freezing conditions didn't keep Saluki pitching from staying hot.
In his first start after making six relief appearances this season, the left-handed Norrick posted a career-high six strikeouts in four no-hit innings.
A freshman, Ward relieved Norrick in the fifth and struck out one, while giving up CSU's lone hit, an infield single to John Torres in the seventh.
Snyder and Garner then added one solid inning apiece to put the finishing touches on the shutout. Snyder struck out two in the eighth, while the walk-on, Garner, had a one-two-three ninth.
With Norrick setting the tone early, SIU's offense immediately went to work on Cougar left-hander Chris Freshour.
Kevin Koski led off the bottom of the first with a walk and went to second on a single by P.J. Finigan. Matt Brewer followed with his team-leading 10th double of the season, and Koski scored. Finigan, who advanced to third on Brewer's hit, touched home when Erik Alvarez grounded out to second.
Ahead 2-0, SIU added to its lead in the fourth, where an error and two hits led to an unearned run.
Chris McCulloch reached on an error by CSU shortstop Elliott Reyes, went to third on a single by Koski and scored on a hit by Finigan to push the Dawgs' lead to 3-0.
SIU came away with one another run in the seventh, where Finigan singled to right, and scored with the help of one-out, back-to-back singles by Grant Gerrard and Alvarez. Alvarez's single to right plated Finigan to ice the 4-0 win.
CSU had two errors in the game, and those miscues outweighed the Cougars' total number of hits (1) and runs (0) combined.
Meanwhile, SIU manufactured four runs on 12 hits, and left 10 runners on base.
Finigan, who posted a career-high 17 strikeouts for SIU on the mound Saturday, turned around to lead the Salukis at the plate today. He went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI.
Gerrard and Brendan Lutz followed with two hits apiece.
Pitching wise, Ward was credited with the win, which marked his first as a Saluki. He is now 1-1 on the season.
For CSU, Freshour fell to 0-3 after giving up 11 hits and four runs in 6.2 innings.
SIU pitching finished its series against CSU with a 1.33 ERA. Saluki hurlers also combined for 35 strikeouts, 11 walks and 22 scoreless innings.
The Salukis will take to the road during spring break, where they visit Middle Tennessee State on Tuesday-Wednesday, Mar. 15-16.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ward, Dylan (1-1)
L: Chris Freshour (0-3)
Base Running:
CS: Alex Hall 1 ; Jason Grace 1
Batting:
2B: Brewer, Matt 1 ; Harrigan, Hunter 1 ; Lutz, Brendan 1
RBI: Finigan, P.J. 1 ; Brewer, Matt 1 ; Alvarez, Erik 2
SH: Koski, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Koski, Kevin 1 ; Finigan, P.J. 2 ; McCulloch, Chris 1
SB: Alvarez, Erik 1
